Inferno
by Cleone
Summary: Making a deal with Itachi in order to make herself stronger seemed like a good idea to Hinata...until she found out that he had much more in store with her than she had thought.
1. Chapter 1

**INFERNO:**

**Chapter 1**

**_"Through me the way into the suffering city,  
Through me the way to the eternal pain,  
Through me the way that runs among the lost."_**

_**-Dante's "Inferno"**_

The only thing she wanted was to be strong. To show the world her true strength that was aflame inside her was a lifelong dream. Making that certain boy acknowledge her and love her was one of her life's goals.

Little did she know, there was a way to obtain these things and make her dreams come true. The only thing she had to do was give her body to the devil.

Hinata gasped and sank to the ground next to her open bag of kunai, sweat running down her pale face and onto her bare neck. She had been practicing long after Shino and Kiba had gone home, but that was what she always did. Her team was never shy about telling her that she needed to become stronger, and she was going to show them that she could do just that.

Hinata took several deep breaths and slipped off her jacket, leaving her in only a black tank top and pants. She tried to lift herself off the ground, but her shaking arms wouldn't allow it. With a yelp she plopped back down in the dirt on her back.

'I…I can't quit now," she said between hard breaths. "I still have another hour left to go.'

Once again Hinata attempted to stand up, but to no avail. Her tired body was perfectly content on the ground. She groaned and shut her eyes tightly.

'I…I have to make Naruto-kun like me back.'

With that thought racing through her mind, she stood up quickly off the ground with new determination. She reached into her bag and pulled out a single kunai.

'Just one more hour…one more hour…'

In a tree approximately ten meters away, a lone figure was perched up on a branch high above the ground, watching the girl train intently. The way she groaned in pain and exhaust, the sweat running down her gorgeously pale face, the sloppy way she threw her kunai…he loved all of it. So what if he was a bit of a stalker? He had been watching this girl for her entire life.

Itachi shifted slightly to get a better view of the girl. She was beautiful, with noble blood flowing through her veins and a huge amount of determination and perseverance. She was different…she was _angelic_.

He smirked as Hinata screamed in frustration and sat down on the ground, hard, with her legs crossed. 'Looks like Hinata-sama is having some difficulties.'

Though Itachi had been watching Hinata for quite some time, she never seemed to have matured emotionally or skill wise. She often got frustrated and her younger sister was a better ninja than her. But physically…she had the body of a healthy, well brought-up woman.

Goddamn, he wanted her body…and her soul.

Hinata pulled at her hair. "Why isn't this working! I've been at this forever!"

"Because you haven't met me yet," Itachi said loudly.

Hinata jumped and turned around, facing the tree Itachi was in. "Wh-what?"

Itachi hopped down gracefully and started walking towards Hinata. "There are some things wrong with your technique, Hinata-sama."

Hinata backed away. "Wh-how…how do you know my name?" Itachi was please to see that she was trembling.

The young man stopped two feet in front of the shivering girl and bent down. "You will never get strong this way."

Hinata frowned. "How do you know? I just need more practice-"

"You've been doing this same exercise for two years, and you're still no good at it."

Hinata looked as though she had been slapped across the face, but the expression was immediately replaced by a look of disgust. "You…you've been stalking me, haven't you?"

Itachi shrugged. "I like to call it 'watching over' you."

Hinata's bottom lip quivered. "Who are you?" She reached for her kunai.

Itachi stretched his arm and slapped her hand away from the bag of weapons. "I'm the only way you can get strong."

Hinata gritted her teeth. "How? Tell me how!"

Itachi smiled and stroked her left arm, causing the girl to flush. "I'll only tell you…if you give me something in exchange."

Hinata gulped. "I'll…I'll give you anything," she whispered. "I'll do anything to get stronger."

Itachi stood up. "You need to give me your body."

Hinata's eyes widened. "Wait…what?"

"You heard me." Itachi began walking away. "Give yourself to me and you will become stronger." He looked over his shoulder. "I'll be back to pick you up right here tomorrow night, because I know you can't refuse my offer."

He jumped up and disappeared through the trees. Hinata stared after him before quickly standing up and rubbing the place where Itachi had touched her.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," she growled. "I don't need him."

* * *

The village was alight by the rays of the cornflower moon. The night wind howled through the tress, causing the leaves to shudder and dance on the branches. Itachi felt excitement well up inside up as he brushed his midnight black hair out of his eyes. Twenty-four hours from now, the devil would finally have his angel.

"And it's about time to clip the wings off that little angel."


	2. Chapter 2

**INFERNO:**

**Chapter Two**

To most women, giving your entire self to a man was a big step. It meant that you were finally entering adulthood, that you were leaving behind the chains of the little girl and blossoming into an independent woman. For most women, it was an emotional time of their life.

For Hinata, it was only a step that she must take to become stronger. And yet…she was still unsure about it.

'He's a stranger,' she thought as she slipped off her nightgown and started to pull on her training clothes. 'For all I know, he could be a child molester. He did say that he had been watching me for my entire life.'

Hinata flipped her shoulder-length hair onto her back and pulled it into a tight ponytail. He was right about one thing: her training was getting her no where. No matter how much she practiced, she couldn't even hold a candle to her teammates, much less the boy she loved.

'I want to make Naruto-kun love me. I can only do that by getting stronger.'

Hinata turned to the large mirror on the wall and stared at the girl who was looking back at her. It was the same old reflection she saw every morning. Just a plain, not-so-special teenage girl was what she saw every time she looked into the mirror.

'I want to be different. I want to be stronger. I want to be…accepted.'

Hinata turned away from the mirror and sighed heavily. "Is he really the only way I can get what I want?"

She crossed her arms and looked about her bedroom. It was the room of a typical teenage girl: pink, flowery, clean, and reeking of cheap perfume. Hinata crinkled her nose as her eyes swept over the vase on her light pink bedside table, the posters of pop stars that had long since vanished from public view, and the many bottles of nail polish and lipstick that she had never used. It was the room of a weak, stereotypical girl.

Hinata gritted her teeth together as she reached under her bed and dragged out her bag of kunai and shuriken. "Good thing I won't be seeing this ugly room again," she spat, standing up straight and tossing the bag over her shoulders. "I'm going to take that guy up on his offer: I'm going to become a stronger Hinata."

* * *

Kiba laughed loudly as he stood over the defeated and exhausted girl. "Looks like I win again, Hinata!"

Hinata simply stared at her teammate from the hard dirt ground, not caring that she had lost to Kiba fifteen times that day. It didn't matter…soon she would be the one laughing at him.

Hinata laughed weakly. "Ha…ha."

Kiba held out his hand to her. "Come on, it's time to go. I'll treat you to some ramen." He grimaced. "But it better be some damn cheap ramen."

Hinata shook her head. "No, thanks anyway Kiba-kun. I'll just…hang here for a while."

Kiba shrugged. "Okay, fine by me." He gestured to the small white dog cowering by his ankles. "Come, Akamaru."

He waved and set off through the trees, leaving the exhausted Hinata on the ground. As soon as Kiba was out of sight, Hinata pulled herself off the dirt and retraced her steps to the tree she was practicing at the evening before. It only took her a few minutes to find that particular tree, since its bark was covered with white indentations from flying kunai.

Hinata plopped down next to the tree, her back rubbing against the rough bark. "Now time to see if he'll keep his promise."

One hour passed, then two hours, even three hours and the man Hinata was waiting for hadn't shown up at the tree. Night had already fallen and the air swept past the girl's sweaty body, causing her to shiver. But she could wait all night; it was time to become tougher anyway.

Hinata blinked her heavy eyes and yawned widely. "Maybe he's just a liar…he might've wanted to give my hopes up."

She heard a faint rustle in the tree above her and sleepily lifted her head. There was no mistaking it: those red eyes shining in the moonlight belonged to the one she was waiting for.

Itachi leapt gracefully to the ground and landed right in front of Hinata, whose tired body wouldn't even allow her to flinch. "Well, I was right, wasn't I, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata sat still. "How-how come you haven't even told me your name yet? Saying 'hey you' seems awfully rude."

Itachi waved his hand carelessly. "You'll find out in due time, Hinata-sama."

Hinata rested her hands on the tree for support and lifted herself up. "Are we to begin our training tonight?"

Itachi nodded and smiled, which made Hinata pull back from him. "Oh yes. I've been waiting a long time for our…_training_ to begin." He beckoned to her and they started walking away from the tree.

Hinata struggled slightly behind him. "What-what will this training consist of?"

Itachi flipped back his hair nonchalantly. "You'll see." He glanced back at her. "It's really a shame that your legs are already hurting."

Hinata stared at his back suspiciously. "What? Am I not prepared?"

Itachi stopped and turned around, looking her straight in the eye. "Well, there is one thing that will be unnecessary."

Hinata shifted her gaze, feeling that those crimson eyes had been boring into her very self. "And what is that?"

Itachi reached his hand out of his cloak and tugged at the sleeve of her jacket. "Your clothes. In fact…" He turned back around, not wanting the girl to see the almost gleeful look on his face. "You're going to be naked."


	3. Chapter 3

**INFERNO:**

**Chapter Three**

Hinata lightly touched the surface of the freezing water with the tip of her big toe before dumping her whole foot in. It felt as though an injection of ice had been shot up into her entire body. This was insane. Just plain insane.

The strange man had led Hinata through the forest to a large, empty lake surrounded by trees and towering rocks. Slightly behind her and to the right, a water fall two stories tall splashed down large rocks and into the lake. The mist from the fall glided to the shivering girl, making this "training session" even more hellish.

"Take off all of your clothes, get into the lake, and stay there until I say so," the man had said in a lusty voice.

"Can't…can't I just leave my underwear on?" Hinata whimpered.

The man smiled. "I think we both know the answer to that," he answered quietly before turning around and running off into the darkness, leaving the girl all alone…

"And-and he st-st-still hasn't come-come back," Hinata muttered, her teeth chattering.

She could've easily just gotten out of the water and slipped on her clothes, which were lying on a mossy rock next to the water fall, but her body didn't want to move. Not only did she feel that her body was made of ice and that it would shatter if moved ever so slightly, but she was also afraid of disobeying that man, no matter how sick and twisted he seemed. He was intimidating, and Hinata didn't want to upset him in the least bit.

And yet, though he was a stranger to her, he reminded her of someone back in Konoha…but who? Hinata mentally went through the list of all the boys back in the village.

'Let's see…Kiba-kun? No…Shino-kun? Definitely not. Shikamaru-san? Nah…'

Hinata stopped, each of the boys' faces coming to her mind as she thought of them. Thinking about them was pretty painful, even though she had just left the village a few hours ago. Pangs of homesickness began welling up inside her, causing her eyes to water and her stomach to churn.

Wow…she really was weak.

Hinata shook her head and wiped her eyes. 'No! I can be tougher than this! I don't need Konoha or the villagers living there! I'm going on this journey to become stronger! Stronger!' She rubbed her goose bumped-covered arms roughly and gritted her teeth. 'I'll show everyone what Hyuuga Hinata is made of!'

A light breeze blew through the forest, whipping through the trees and making small ripples in the lake. Hinata's dark, silky hair fell into her eyes, and she quickly slapped it out of the way. Though she was trying to be tough, even she knew that if she had to spend much more time in the water, she could get sick…or worse.

'Yeah…like _that_ time.'

Maybe it was a bit of an inappropriate time to think about this, but the memory of a certain training session flashed through Hinata's mind. Kurenai had sent her, Kiba, and Shino on a "team work building" mission (even thinking about it made Hinata grimace; what a cliché and overused idea for a mission) in which they were to spend the night in a small cabin by a pond with only a few pounds of food and three blankets.

On the first night of the mission, Kiba had enthusiastically suggested that they play truth or dare ('Another cliché' Hinata thought). Of course, being the cautious person she was, Hinata immediately picked "truth" when it was time for her turn. Kiba made fun of her for "being a pussy" and after a few minutes of persuasiveness talked her into picking dare ("I swear, it's not going to be anything bad!" he had said). Unfortunately, Hinata was dared to jump into the pond in her underwear and stay in the water for ten minutes.

Now, if Hinata was a normal teenage girl, she would've giggled and said "Ew, what's your problem, pervert?" but she wasn't exactly a normal teenage girl; she was a bit easier to push around. So she stepped outside with Kiba laughing behind her and Shino following, perhaps out of interest or just because he was simply bored, took off her clothes, and slowly settled herself into the pond.

During those ten minutes, Kiba and Shino snuck off without Hinata noticing, grabbed her clothes out of the cabin, and gave them to Akamaru to chew and pee on. And so, Hinata was stuck with wearing a blanket as a makeshift dress the rest of the mission. Even to this day, her clothes still smelled like dog pee.

A twig snapped behind the girl and she quickly whipped around, her heart pounding in her now deadly pale chest. Oh god, it was some child molester, happy to see an innocent little girl naked in a lake all on her own. Or maybe it was a murderer, thirsty for more blood…

Hinata sighed with relief when she saw the red eyes and long, dark hair glinting in the shadows. "Oh good, it's-it's just you."

Itachi smiled. "Are you ready, Hinata-sama?"

He stepped forward into the moonlight. Hinata's relief quickly turned into horror. This was ten times worse than the mission with Kiba and Shino…

The man was naked and stepping ever closer to Hinata with a hungry look in his eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**INFERNO:**

**Chapter Four**

Hinata's first reaction was to cover up her chest, which she did so immediately, shielding herself from the man's ruthless gaze. All the cold left her body and all she felt was a complicated mixture of fear, anger, and embarrassment. How dare he! He wasn't planning on training her at all!

"So that's how it is," Hinata said between her gritted teeth, feeling a new sense of power and strength. It's amazing how hatred can do that to you. "You're going to rape me then kill me! You aren't going to help me get stronger at all, are you?"

To her dismay, Itachi laughed. "Damn, Hinata-sama, don't think so horribly of me!" He took a step forward in the water, and she stepped back. "This _will _make you stronger."

"How is being naked in a lake with a man helping me at all?" She said shrilly. She looked over her shoulder. "I'm going back! I can't stay here with _you_!"

Before she could start treading away through the ice cold water, Itachi grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. Hinata struggled to detach herself from his grip, but to no avail; his fingernails were digging deeply into her goose-bump-covered skin. She looked up at him angrily, and felt herself shrink when she saw the menacing expression on his face. Those red eyes…oh dear god, those red eyes that could see into her soul…

Itachi grabbed her other arm, and her chest was now completely exposed. Hinata could feel the color rise in her cheeks as his eyes moved away from her face and slowly downwards. Oh, if only her hands were free…

Hinata squirmed, desperate to be free of his hold. "P-Please, let me go…"

Itachi ignored her and rested his eyes on her pale breasts. "Hmmm…"

"P-p-please! Just let me go!"

The red-eyed man released her, but before she could get away, he slipped his hands around her waist and pushed her slender frame against his'. The girl let out a high-pitched shriek of protest and tried to free herself, but to no avail. Itachi dug his nails into her lower back, causing Hinata to hiss and stop struggling.

"Oh, Hinata-sama," he breathed lustily. "You're just turning me on even more."

She gulped, feeling the color drain out of her face. "Turning…you on?"

The Hyuuga's virgin eyes were gravitated to the area between the man's thighs like a magnet. Hinata's pale cheeks exploded with red and her stomach churned as she gazed at Itachi's hardened member.

'Oh…god…'

Hinata gasped loudly and shut her eyes tightly, once again attempting to shake herself loose, this time with more vigor and urgency. "You're-you're horrible!" She screamed.

Itachi laughed loudly. "Don't tell me you've never even seen a man before!"

Hinata felt tears forming in her closed eyes, embarrassed beyond belief. "Please, please! Just let me go!" She sobbed.

The man continued to smirk at the crying girl for a moment before he slid his hands from her smooth, creamy back and turned his away from her. "Come, there's one last item of business to take care of before we turn in tonight."

Itachi waded through the frigid lake water towards the shore with Hinata following him warily, sniffling and wiping her eyes. Her heart was palpitating, and she couldn't help but feel not only embarrassed but also angry as well. So all he wanted to do was fuck her. Hinata knew she should've listened to her father's warning about strange men asking her to meet with them.

'But…why didn't he do it back there?'

As the two neared the shore, the girl noticed that she was staring at the man's body. He was muscular in all the right places, had extremely beautiful skin that even a movie star would be jealous of, silky hair, and…

'For a guy, he has a pretty cute butt,' Hinata thought, ashamed that she was even looking.

They both walked back onto the dirt soaking wet, the cool night air nipping their dripping bodies. Itachi took a few steps forward and bent down in front of a bush. He pulled out two large towels and tossed one to Hinata while he wrapped the other one around his waist. Hinata quickly wound the towel around her body, thankful to hide her body from his view.

Itachi gestured to her and started walking again, Hinata following obediently. After a few minutes, they stopped in a clearing approximately thirty meters away from the lake they were in. A fire roared in the middle of the area, and the girl noticed that the tip of a metal stake that lay on the ground was engulfed in the flames.

"I was preparing this while you were in the water by yourself," Itachi said carelessly, sitting beside the fire.

Hinata hesitated before taking a seat next to him, grateful for the warmth. She sighed heavily and gazed at the orange embers, her thoughts returning back to Konoha. Had anyone realized she was missing yet? And if so, were they searching for her? The Hyuuga's heart ached; a case of homesickness was hitting her hard.

Itachi glanced over at her. "Hinata-sama, I'm going to tell you now how you will get stronger."

Hinata nodded solemnly. "Please, tell me."

The man looked back at the fire with her silently before continuing. "Hinata-sama, tell me, have you ever killed a man?"

The hairs on the back of Hinata's neck pricked up at the question. "What-n-no! Of-of course I haven't!"

Itachi nodded knowingly. "I thought so. Konoha was always soft on training their shinobi." He picked at his fingernail. "They don't know what they're missing."

Hinata stared at him, fear now overcoming her. "What…what do you mean?"

He sighed wistfully and looked at the deep blue sky above them. "The human body is so fragile," Itachi began with relish. "The blood, the screaming, the heart stopping for the rest of time…it's so beautiful."

The girl beside him whimpered and moved a few feet away from him. "You're…you're a murderer!"

"_Mass_-murderer, to be precise." He grinned, which was even more chilling than his scowl. "I killed an entire clan…except for one member."

Hinata shook her head and backed even farther away, wishing dearly that she had some sort of weapon on her. Her eyes rested on the slender metal stake that lay by the fire. Itachi followed her gaze and his smiled widened.

"I'm not the one whom that will be used on." He nodded at her. "It'll be used on _you_."

"Wh-what are you talking about?" Hinata's voice shook.

Itachi leaned forward and brushed the metal with his fingertips. "To be truly strong, you need to take someone's life. You need to have the physical and moral strength to stab someone in the heart. Only then will you be considered strong."

Realization hit Hinata. "You…you want me to kill someone!"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Obviously." He lifted the stake from the ground, and the girl saw that it was actually a brand, with it's crescent moon design on the end glowing a fierce orange from being in the flames. "Hinata-sama, you will kill the person I failed to kill, the trash that I let live."

"I-I-I can't do that!" She said shrilly. "I'm not like you! I'm not going to kill an innocent person!"

"And that is why you are so weak!" The man responded fiercely, causing Hinata to recoil. "Why do you think I'm so much stronger than you, so much stronger than that piece of shit village you live in?!" He pointed the tip of the brand at her. "Do it. Show me what you're made of."

Hinata shivered and shook her head. "I…I…"

"Hinata-sama," the man replied gently. "If you do this, I can guarantee that you will be the strongest woman in the entire village of Konoha."

At that she froze completely. If he was really telling the truth, that if she murdered someone she'd be the strongest woman in the village, then her father would acknowledge her, the man she adored would respect her. No one would push her around anymore. She'd be the one giving orders, the one people looked up to…

And that sounded exactly like what Hinata wanted, the entire reason she went with this man.

Her bottom lip trembled. "You…you promise?"

"I promise." Itachi pointed at the brand. "But you have to swear that once you accept this mission I give you, you will go through with it no matter what. And in return, I will train you to complete the mission. Understood?"

Hinata waited a moment before nodding. "Y-yes. I'll do it."

Itachi reached out and gently touched her bare right arm. "Then let's seal our deal…with _this_."

Before the girl could respond, he thrust the white hot brand onto her arm. A loud, agonized scream tore through the quiet forest as the innocent Hyuuga made a deal with the devil.

"You're mine…Hinata-sama."


	5. Chapter 5

**INFERNO:**

**Chapter Five**

Neither of the two slept that night. Itachi and Hinata had sat across from each other on the dirt ground, both completely rigid (except for putting their clothes back on) and silent until the morning came. Hinata kept gingerly rubbing the brand on her arm, wincing every time she did so and fighting back the tears that threatened to pour out of her eyes. Now she was trapped, committed, to carrying out the mission assigned to her by the evil man. Even she wasn't stupid enough to try and run from him.

Hinata chanced a look at the dark-haired man but quickly looked away when she realized that his red eyes were locked on her. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to run off with some stranger into the middle of the woods where he demanded you to get naked and later stabbed your skin with a white-hot piece of metal. But his promise…his promise to make her stronger was too enticing to resist. Hinata knew that if she could go through with the mission assigned by him, as horrible as it was, she would indeed gain immense strength.

"I wonder if they've started to panic," Itachi said with the slightest hint of amusement in his voice.

Hinata frowned slightly at his comment, but remained silent, staring at the ground. He was talking about the village. Were they aware that she was gone yet? And if so, would they have sent help? Hinata was almost relieved at the thought, but immediately kicked it out of her mind.

'No! I don't need help! I will get through this! I will!'

Itachi cocked his head slightly. "Homesick?"

Hinata shook her head. "Not a bit," she lied.

"Are you wondering about the person you're too…_murder_?"

"I-I guess."

The man across from her stood up. "You won't know, Hinata-sama, until our training is further along." He gestured to her before turning on his heel and walking away from the remains of the campfire. "Come."

Hinata quickly attempted to stand up before she was overcome by a wave of vertigo. She plopped back down on the ground, feeling dizzy and realizing that she hadn't slept nor eaten for two days straight. She shook her head and stood up slowly this time before following Itachi.

'I wonder if he'll even let me eat…'

The two stopped in front of a large bush a few meters away, and Itachi bent down to move some of its branches to the side. Hinata suppressed a squeal when he revealed a group of kittens and an adult cat cuddling together in a small hole in the middle of the bush; she had always wanted a kitten.

"They're-they're so cute!" Hinata blurted out.

Itachi grinned. "You like?"

"Of course!" Hinata reached past him and gently picked up a black kitten with white spots from the litter, who blinked its wide eyes sleepily and mewed, positively making the girl's heart melt.

"Is he your favorite?" Itachi asked quietly.

Hinata glanced at him. The look in his eyes…the smirk on his face…he was up to something. She held the tiny ball of fur protectively against her chest, feeling its small heart beating.

"I like them all," she whispered, staring at him and feeling an almost fierce sense of motherhood over the small spotted cat and its family.

Silence once again overcame the two before Itachi dug into his holster and pulled out a kunai. "Don't get too attached," he said, his grin widening.

Hinata transferred her gaze to the life-taking piece of metal and after a few seconds, realization hit her. Her eyes widened as her arms tightened around the baby animal, who was starting to squirm and meow quietly.

"N-No…" She said, backing away from him. "I…there's no way I can!"

"You agreed to kill a human," Itachi said nonchalantly, standing up off the ground, the morning sun glinting off the weapon in his hand. "But how can you do that if you can't even kill a damn cat?"

Despite her inner protests not to cry, tears started to well up in Hinata's milky eyes as she used her arms to shield the kitten as much as possible from the malicious, horrible man. "There's no reason to!" She began rather shrilly, visions of the animal in her arms being torn to shreds and its tiny organs spilling out of its split stomach. "Killing a person who's done you wrong is one thing, but killing an innocent animal is another!"

"Do it, Hinata-sama," Itachi said between gritted teeth as he shoved the kunai into one of her hands.

Hinata hesitated for a fraction of a second before throwing it on the ground, feeling more cornered with each passing second. The kitten continued to meow in her arms, louder this time, and seeming desperate to go back to it's mother and siblings.

Itachi glared at her and before Hinata knew it he was grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her roughly, eventually causing her to lose her grip on the kitten. She gasped quietly as it ran back inside the bush, and even though she herself could've been in peril, she prayed silently that it had made it's way to safety.

Itachi, irritated at her lack of attention towards him, grabbed her face and started to shake her head. "Do as I say, Hinata-sama!"

"No!" She screamed, and the dizziness she had experienced before was coming back much more severely.

"Yes!"

"NO!"

And with her last ounce of strength, she lifted her hand and slapped Itachi across his beautiful face. The man, obviously shocked at her action, let his arms drag away from her face as he gently touched his own, not taking his eyes off of the panting girl.

"That…was very, _very_ brave of you, Hinata-sama," he breathed, his eyes turning to slits.

Hinata remained quiet and brushed away the tears from her eyes. There was no way she would forgive herself for taking the life of a creature that was so innocent. She would rather be punished by Itachi than murder a baby cat. He thought he could control her, but there were some things that even she wouldn't stand for.

'Hopefully you're safe now, kitty…' She thought.

As was usual for that morning, an overwhelming silence shrouded the two before Itachi stopped rubbing his face and smiled. The words that came out of his mouth next shocked Hinata, and she even wondered if she heard him right:

"Congratulation's. You passed the first part of your training."

* * *

Back in Konoha, people were just starting to notice that the village was one person short…


End file.
